What Is Deepfake and How to Protect Yourself From It

Deepfake by literal is a combination of two words: “deep” (comes from “deep learning”) and “fake”. Deep learning is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology that can learn from unstructured data, for instance, human faces and voices. That data will then be processed to create a Deepfake image using another machine learning system GAN (Generative Adversarial Network). Because such a process will keep testing the results it creates against the original set, the fake images will become more and more convincing.

Why Is Deepfake Dangerous

Deepfake technology can make convincing videos or images of people, and can also recreate the audio of specific human voices in the same way through deep fake apps. In short terms, a Deepfake that is created with deep fake apps can trick you to believe things that aren't real. This makes Deepfake a serious threat.

While sometimes Deepfakes can be used for fun (for example people make Deepfakes online with deep fake apps to create memes), still the technology and those apps itself can be used by cybercriminals to do serious harm. Since anyone can make Deepfakes online with deep fake apps, it may create people who do not exist or, even worse, create images/videos of real people doing things they never did. 

How to Protect Yourself from Deepfake

There are a few basic security procedures that are efficient at countering Deepfake:

• Ensure you and your family know about what Deepfake is, how it works and the threat it can pose.
• Learn how to spot fake news and Deepfake content.
• Always read from good quality news sources.

However, if hackers start deploying Deepfake in an attempt to break into your networks, basic cybersecurity practices will be very useful in minimizing threats:

• Backup your data regularly to protect them against unexpected events and give you the possibility to restore the damaged data.
• Always use unique, strong passwords for all your accounts, and make sure when one network or service has been broken into, it won’t affect your other accounts. 
• Use a security package such as the MonoDefense security bundle to protect your home network and devices against cyber risks. This bundle provides all the cyber security features you need, such as VPN Unlimited to prevent your Wi-Fi connections from being hacked, avoid apps knowing where you are, protect your webcams and so much more.